Las Vegas to Name George McPhee GM

The new NHL franchise in Las Vegas will name its first General Manager on Wednesday July 13th, and according to numerous reports, it will be George McPhee.
McPhee was the General Manager of the Washington Capitals from 1997 to 2014. Prior to joining the Capitals, he was the Assistant General Manager under Hall of Famer Pat Quinn in Vancouver.

His teams have made 14 playoff appearances, won eight division titles, and one Presidents Trophy. He has two appearances in the Stanley Cup Final, one in 1994 with the Canucks and in his first year in Washington D.C.

In what may be indicative of the fire he will bring to the new team, he was suspended in 1999 for one month and fined $20,000 for punching Chicago Blackhawks Head Coach Lorne Molleken outside the locker rooms. McPhee was upset over unnecessary rough play by the Hawks, according to the New York Times report on October 1, 1999.

Other rumored candidates include Scott Mellanby and Jason Botterill, but it seems that Mr. Foley has decided to hire the man with the proven track record instead of the up and comers. Previous expansion teams who hired General Managers with prior experience in the NHL made the playoffs faster and went farther than teams who hired inexperienced GMs.

McPhee has been acting as Special Assistant to the General Manager of the New York Islanders since September, 2015.